Gallery • 8 Photos

Rita Li

SWOOSH. Sophomore Andrew Drake quickly passes his frisbee to sophomore Theo Bonin.

As time slowly moves towards mid-May, spring slowly wraps together the rain and lets out the sun, which casts its lights on the front lawn. Stretching from X-Period to tutorial, sports activities on the front lawn have become a cultural part of the school’s community bonding as the weather progressively gets warmer. Some of these activities stretch all the way to ultimate frisbee, spikeball, football, and volleyball.

Sports activities outside of the buildings have significantly increased bonding among students to get to know each other outside of class. “I think in a lot of classes it’s more just like sitting at a table and then the teacher talks and maybe just talk to the person sitting next to you. But when there’s a team activity, then you kind of talked to everyone in the class,” freshman Deling Chen said.

As the community unconsciously strengthens its connections through natural ways of enjoyment, students also begin to get to know the teachers as people. “The biggest impact it’s had on learning is that it makes me more like of a complete human and more relatable. So students don’t just see me as a person that sits in their office all day and thinks about math. So they feel like they have something in common they can come and talk to me because I’m a real person instead of just a textbook,” math teacher Zach Sheffert said.

Moreover, teachers across various subjects, like English, History, Math, Theater, etc., have also embedded a new learning style as they introduce students to different studying environments. “It’s honestly more engaging in a way because you feel a bit more comfortable and relaxed outdoors. I’m usually a little bit antsier in school during the winter because I want to get out. The light outside really helps brighten up the mood for classes,” freshman Cerena Karmaliani said.

These new changes in classroom locations have contributed to students’ moods and increased efficiency in memory for some students. “I actually think that I will remember things better because I remember ‘oh, that’s from that one class we did outside’, then I’m more likely to grasp the content,” Chen said.

Multiple advisories have also taken their students on walks around the school or participated in these activities as stress-relieving events while the students get ready for finals. Sophomore Declan Monahan said, “If you are having to stay inside, you are either sitting and talking to your friends or scrolling on your phone. It’s just much better when you are doing something active.”

“Some students started victory dances after every single point. And so then it just kind of became a thing after a while. We’d be like a little victory and so it’s kind of like a touchdown celebration, but in pickleball which I thought was pretty funny,” Karmaliani described spending her free-periods outside with the freshman fitness class and other faculty members to pass the time and relax.

Stepping outside of the classrooms and exploring new connections through sports have brought fun to the school and kept us sane as students move towards the last week of school, preparing for finals.